Organization Made Easy

Hey everybody!

I know that some of you have started to pick up and begin couponing. So I thought I should give you one really easy, yet important tip on how to organize your coupons. Now, I can't stress enough how important it is to buy the Sunday paper. Maybe you won't use any of the coupons from it that specific week, but some coupons last for months, and come in handy eventually. So its nice to have them there when the time comes. When I started couponing I tried EVERY method imaginable to stay organized. I bought 4 papers, cut out ALL the coupons, and filed them in tiny coupon holders to take to the store. But not only is this time consuming, its annoying. So now I have what I like to think of as the best method possible for beginners and even serious couponers like myself.

So here it goes! What I do now is look at Sundaycouponpreview.com every week before the paper comes out Sunday. If I know I'll be using multiples of certain couples, I'll buy multiple papers, always in even numbers. So some weeks I buy 8 while others I buy 4. Then, I bought a filing box system at Target for about $10. It holds letter and legal sizes hanging folders. I use the letter size. Here's a picture!

What I do next makes my life so much easier! I label the tabs with the date of the coupon insert, and by brand of insert. For example, since we moved to Miami, all my coupons from before January were left in Tampa! So I started fresh. The first tab says " 1/2 SS" this means January 2nd Smartsource Insert. 

Sometimes there is more than one insert of the same brand, such as RedPlum. So I will label them RP1 and RP2! Here's a closer look...

Next, I follow websites such as Iheartpublix.com and Totallytarget.com, and Iheartwags.com where they match up the sales with coupons. For example it might look like this:

Colgate toothpaste $2/5 at Walgreens

$1/1 Coupon in 1/16 SS

Now I now that if I'm buying Colgate toothpaste, I will be looking in the smartsource from January 16. Then I'll take it out, cut the coupon, and put the insert back in its place. It's really simple. 

I'm also a pretty organized person so I have a lot of fun with this! I buy the colorful-pretty tabs and my coupons are so organized!

And this method is really not very expensive. Yesterday I found a 25 pack of the green hanging folders plus 50 regular manila folders for only $2.48 at Target. 

So far I have everything from January through the first weekend of February. I even have enough room for probably all the inserts through March. At that point, many of the January ones will be expired and get thrown away.